Biggby Coffee to open Stadium District store

Kalamazoo Gazette Staff Reports

A Biggby Coffee shop is slated to open Monday at 3216 Stadium Drive in the Shoppes on Stadium Drive.

The business, whose name is the evolution from Beaner’s, is the sixth Kalamazoo-area location of that East Lansing-based chain of franchise coffee shops. And it is the first to have signage reflecting the name change, said company spokesman Matt Jackson.

The 12-year-old chain announced in September that the name of the 85 stores would change to sidestep concerns that “beaner” may be considered a derogatory term to Hispanics. The term was preceded by “bean-eater,” a slur against Latin-Americans, particularly Mexicans, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

The local franchise is owned and operated by father-and-son team Allan and Kyle Kinney of Kalamazoo. The 1,830-square-foot location will have a drive-through window and a sit-down interior with a fireplace and wireless Internet service. To promote its opening, it will feature free brewed coffee this week.

The Biggby chain has locations in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana., Florida, Georgia., Alabama and South Carolina but is ramping up to expand. Jackson said it is under contract to open 69 new locations by 2010.

The Shoppes on Stadium Drive is a new retail development owned by The Hinman Co. of Kalamazoo.